Foley, who lost the 2010 election to Malloy by a little more than 6,500 votes, leads other Republican contenders in a primary with 36 percent.

In a poll of the race last taken in June, Foley beat Malloy in an election 43 to 40. Today’s results, eight months before the election, show the two both earning 42 percent of the vote if the election were held today.

"Haven't we seen this movie before? A potential rematch of Gov. Dannel Malloy vs Tom Foley couldn't get any closer," Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac University poll, said in a statement.

In a primary, the poll shows Foley would take 36 percent of the vote and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a former lieutenant governor candidate, would take second place with 11 percent. No other candidate tops 6 percent in a primary, according to the poll.

Boughton gained three percentage points in a primary since the last Quinnipiac poll, which had him in second to last place among the other Republican contenders. State Sen. John McKinney had previously held second place in a primary with Foley, and has been in first place with fundraising, but he lost eight points since the last poll, earning only 3 percent in a primary. That ties him with former West Hartford Town Councilman Joe Visconti at 3 percent. Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who entered the race in December, earned 6 percent of the vote in a primary, while State Sen. Toni Boucher got the lowest percentage of votes with 2 percent.

No candidate, besides Foley's tie, beats Malloy if the election were held today, the poll shows. Races between Malloy and all the other candidates have a Malloy win with anywhere between six and 11 percentage points.

Largely unchanged since June, 45 percent of voters say Malloy deserves to be re-elected, while 46 percent say he does not. Malloy gets a 46 to 43 percent favorability rating in the poll.